


That's What Best Friends Are For

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-02 02:00:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16777390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex is sick on tour, and Jack's girlfriend breaks up with him.





	That's What Best Friends Are For

All the boys in All Time Low all agreed that getting sick on tour was the absolute worst. Being in a tiny bunk surrounded by a bunch of other people was definitely not ideal. There was also the possibility of getting others sick, since their bus was basically an incubator. So, when Alex woke up with a fever about halfway through the tour that they were currently on, it frustrated everybody. Jack was always Alex’s primary caretaker when he was under the weather. He was able to comfort Alex better than the rest of their band, and Alex was able to do the same for Jack, since they were best friends. Jack did everything he could to help Alex feel better. He made him a lot of tea, gave him a bunch of medicine, and cuddled with him often.   
Two days after he got sick, they had a show to perform in Indianapolis. It was a pretty challenging show for Alex to get through. His voice was shot from his constant coughing, he was shaky and felt freezing cold the whole time. He even had to run offstage towards the end to get sick. Jack felt bad for his friend, he hated seeing Alex so miserable. It was really hard for him, since he was the front man, and was kind of expected to hold everything together, and connect the band to the fans in the live show. Once they were finally done with their set, they walked offstage, and took off their instruments.   
“Alex, you look like shit,” Rian observed.  
“Thanks, asshole,” Alex replied with a cough.  
“Why don’t you go back on the bus and rest up, you really need it,” Zack suggested.  
“I’ll go with you, dude,” Jack added.  
“Yeah, let’s go, I feel absolutely terrible,” Alex replied, hugging himself to try to counter his chills. Jack helped Alex to the bus as quickly as he could. It was currently November, so it was pretty cold, and Jack knew that this weather would do nothing good for Alex right now.  
“Change into sweats, and we can hang out in the back lounge for a bit, if that sounds good to you,” Jack suggested.  
“Sure, sounds good to me,” Alex said, before sneezing. Alex quickly changed and went to the back lounge with a blanket and pillow from his bunk. Jack changed into his PJs, then heard his phone go off. He saw a text from his girlfriend, asking if they could FaceTime for a bit, to talk about something. He walked out to the lounge, and saw Alex setting himself up with his blanket.  
“Dude, my girlfriend wants me to call her really quick. I promise it won’t be long, she probably just wants to say goodnight or something, is that cool with you?” Jack asked. He knew that Alex really needed him right now, but he also didn’t want to piss off his girlfriend.  
“It’s fine dude, no worries. Take your time, I can promise that I’ll still be here when you’re done,” Alex replied, breaking into a small coughing fit.  
“Okay, thanks dude. Don’t die on me while I’m gone, we’d be a pretty shitty band without you,” Jack joked, making both of them laugh. Jack walked out to the front lounge and pulled his phone out. He went to his girlfriend’s contact and clicked on FaceTime. Jack really loved his girlfriend, but he wished that he could see her more. They had a rule of no girlfriends on the bus, since it was already such a tight space for them and their crew. After a couple of rings, she picked up.  
“Hey babe, how’re you?” Jack asked, smiling at her. She looked a bit stressed and upset, which confused Jack.  
“Jack, we have to talk,” she said, her voice cracking some.  
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, immediately feeling concerned.  
“Jack, I don’t know how to say this, it’s really hard, but I have to do this. Jack, we need to break up,” she explained. Jack felt his heart sink.  
“What? Why do you think this?” Jack asked, feeling anxiety pool in his stomach.  
“I can’t do this long-distance thing,” she said back.  
“Why not? Alex and his girlfriend can, and so can Rian and his girlfriend. I know the long-distance thing kind of sucks, but it’s not like we don’t ever have time together,” Jack babbled, still in total shock.  
“I hate not having you here with me,” she continued.  
“Maybe I can get the guys to consider touring less or something. It’d be kind of hard, but I could probably-“   
“Jack, I slept with someone else last night,” she said, interrupting Jack.  
“Yo- you what?” Jack was speechless in disbelief. No way she really cheated on him. What they had was real love, she wouldn’t do that, right?  
“I missed you a lot, and I went out and met someone and it happened. I’m not proud of it, but it happened because I missed you. I can’t do this, and I can’t keep being with you after this. I hate not being with you, and I just can’t do this anymore,” she explained, now crying. Jack was trying his best to hold back his emotions, not wanting to be too vulnerable. He stayed silent, knowing he’d cry if he tried to say something.  
“Jack, please say something,” Jack took a deep breath before talking.  
“I’m kind of shocked right now. But, if you can’t do this, and me being on tour is going to lead to this kind of shit happening, then there’s no point,” Jack finally choked out.  
“Jack, I’m so sorry,” she said quietly.  
“I don’t need your damn apology. Thanks for a great eight months,” he replied, his voice cracking.  
“I wish we could’ve done this in person,” she said, wiping away a few stray tears.  
“I’m glad we didn’t. Goodbye,” Jack replied.  
“Goodbye Jack,” she replied, before Jack hung up the call. Jack felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He’d gone through breakups before, but none of them hurt like this one did. His past relationships were never as serious as he thought this one was. Tears were spilling down his face, his heart was pounding in his chest, his stomach was in knots, and his body felt very numb. He knew that he had to go back to the back and take care of Alex, and he still had every intention to, but he felt like his world was currently crashing down around him. He decided that he could try to fake being okay until Alex fell asleep. He wiped away his tears and took a deep breath. Once he decided that he was calm enough, he walked past the bunks, then to the lounge where Alex was. Alex was wrapped up tightly in his blanket with a bunch of tissues around him, looking at something on his phone. Jack walking back in took his attention away from his phone. Alex could immediately sense that something was up. He knew Jack better than anyone, and Jack seemed off.  
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Alex asked, sneezing.  
“What do you mean?” Jack asked, trying to play it cool.  
“Jack, I may be sick but I’m not stupid. I know you better than anyone else, like how you are with me, I can tell something’s up. I don’t care if I’m sick right now, you don’t have to push whatever is wrong aide for me,” Alex explained. Jack sat down next to Alex, got under the blanket, and looked at his best friend’s face. He took a deep breath before speaking.  
“She broke up with me,” he said, his voice cracking.   
“Wait, what? Why?” Alex said, now in shock himself. Whenever he’d seen Jack and his girlfriend, they always seemed very happy and into one another. He could only imagine how Jack was feeling.  
“She said she didn’t want to do the long-distance thing anymore. And, apparently, she missed me, so to fix that, she slept with some other guy last night,” Jack explained. At this point, he was crying again, tears streaming down his face.  
“You’re joking, right?” Alex asked, coughing a bit.  
“No, it’s true. And, we’re definitely over,” Jack replied. Alex scooted over next to Jack and put his arm around him. Taking his arms out of his blanket made his chills much worse, but he didn’t care, Jack was his main priority right now. Jack could feel some heat radiating off Alex, but he was so numb from what happened that it was a very small sensation.  
“I can’t believe she did this, I don’t even know what to think. I feel so broken right now, dude,” Jack admitted, putting his head into his hands. Alex wrapped him into a tight hug as tears shook his best friend.  
“Dude, you deserve so much better. Like, anyone who thinks cheating is a good way to get over missing someone is fucking stupid,” Alex stated.  
“I really loved her, man. I know we were only together for eight months, but it felt like the most real relationship I’ve ever been in. I guess I’m just stupid for thinking that, since this happened,” Jack continued, sounding angry. Alex knew that he was angrier at himself than his now ex-girlfriend.  
“Jack, you’re not the stupid one here, she is. Having a real relationship while on the road is hard and takes a lot of commitment from both people. If she can’t give you that, then she’s not the one,” Alex explained, before sneezing.  
“But you’ve been in a relationship for like forever now, and it’s been fine when we’ve been on tour and stuff,” Jack countered.  
“It’s not always just been totally fine. We’ve been off and on, you know that. It took us years to finally be able to figure this shit out. It’s not easy, and really sucks sometimes,” Alex explained.  
“But it still happened for you do you think it’s just me? Like, I’m not good enough, and she used the distance thing as an excuse, so she could hide the real reason? Am I that awful? Am I just never going to be in a real, successful, committed relationship?” Jack asked, crying even harder now. Hearing Jack say all these things made Alex’s heart break.  
“Jack, you deserve so much better than how she was with you. Everyone who knows you personally knows this. We have so many fans who love you, too. They don’t know us the way that our friends and family do, but they all see the best in you. You’ve helped turn people’s lives around just by being in this band. People love and care about you, and someday you’ll have someone in your life who proves what I’m saying,” Alex said.  
“Well, as far as our band goes, I think that people are more appreciative of you, you write all of our lyrics that they connect to, I just make a bunch of dick jokes,” Jack countered.  
“Lyrics are important, but you make people laugh so effortlessly. I know you’ve had fans tell you that listening to you make jokes has turned their whole day around. You make people laugh when they don’t think that they can, myself included. Hell, I’ve felt absolutely terrible these past few days, but having you around has made this awful flu a bit more tolerable. This breakup has nothing to do with you as a person, this is completely on her,” Alex explained, making Jack smile a bit. Alex suddenly broke into a coughing fit, and Jack rubbed his friend’s back until it went away.  
“Don’t work yourself up too much, dude, I don’t want you to get worse,” Jack said, sounding concerned.  
“I won’t, don’t worry. But I meant what I said, you are a fantastic person, so please don’t let this bullshit affect your self-esteem. Any girl would be so lucky to be able to call you her boyfriend. Please believe me on all of this,” Alex continued, desperate for Jack to see his point.  
“Thank you, Alex, all of what you’ve said really means a lot to me. It’s just the fact that she slept with someone else, it really made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. I hate this, and it still hurts like hell, but what you’ve said has helped make it hurt a little bit less. Thank you, having you as my best friend really makes times like this a bit more bearable,” Jack replied, making both of them smile.  
“No problem, dude. I’ll always be here for you,” Alex said. They went in to give each other a hug, but stopped when Alex quickly pulled away, gagging.  
“Shit, are you alright?” Jack asked, remembering just how sick Alex really was right now. He put his hand on his stomach and shut his eyes. He hissed at the pain. He shook his head, and Jack quickly grabbed the bucket that was placed in the back for this reason. Alex began to get sick in it, and Jack rubbed his back until he was done. Jack took the bucket to the bathroom and cleaned it out, then left it on the counter. He walked back to the lounge, and saw Alex wrapped back up in his blanket, a hand still on his stomach.  
“Are you alright?” Jack asked, sitting next to him again.  
“I feel like shit, this flu really fucking sucks. But, are you going to be okay?” Alex replied, more concerned for his friend than himself, like usual.  
“It hurts, and it probably will for a while, but having you by my side makes it a little bit better,” Jack replied.  
“And, having you makes this flu slightly less shitty. When I’m finally well again, you and I are going to go out and party, and we can try to make you forget all about this. I wish I could do that for you tonight,” Alex said.  
“That sounds really fun, and we’ll do that as soon as you’re well enough to. But, right now, we need to get you better. Want to put on a movie, and just fall asleep out here?” Jack suggested.  
“That sounds good, want to watch Home Alone? Maybe that can help you some,” Alex replied, making both of them smile.  
“Of course I do. Alex, thank you for being here for me, I couldn’t have handled this alone,” Jack said.  
“No problem, I’ll be here whenever you need me, with this and in general. Thank you for helping me feel a bit better. Being sick sucks, especially on the road, but you helping me means a lot,” Alex said back. Jack turned on the TV and selected the movie. They snuggled into each other, Alex needing warmth and Jack needing companionship, they were exactly what the other needed. They eventually fell asleep, feeling lucky to have each other as best friends, and knowing they could get through anything together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I wrote this story about a month ago and it's actually one of my favorite stories I've ever written. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I do! I'll have another one up asap, so be on the lookout for that!  
> Lots of love, Liv


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